Frank Lee Beard is the drummer in the American rock band ZZ Top. Beard was formerly with the bands The Cellar Dwellars, who originally were a three-piece band, The Hustlers, The Warlocks, and American Blues before starting to play and record with Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill as ZZ Top. Beard was born in Frankston, Texas and attended Irving High School in Irving, Texas. In late 1969 he joined The Moving Sidewalks guitarist and vocalist Gibbons' ZZ Top.… Read More

News + Updates

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(Written/Compiled for Rock''s Backpages, www.rocksbackpages.com)
THE 84 ROCK''S BACKPAGES contributors -- and other invited music aficionados who participated in its second Senior Moments poll -- had a heap of fun with their list titles.
As if "senior moments" and "silver-haired top tens" (both coined by RBP''s editorial director Barney Hoskyns) weren''t sly enough, David Quantick came up with the wonderful acronym MOPO -- "Music of Older People Origin." Robert (Robot) Hull r...

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No rest for the busy!
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16
TERRIBLE TEDS—The best Portland writers/fake experts in the areas of "humor, science, history, child slavery, personal empowerment, and death" are coming together to present pugnacious PowerPoints that spoof TED Talks (long overdue). Among others, this installment of CHAD Chats features cartoonist Mark Russell answering the age-old question "What Is the Bible?" and author Mykle Hansen on "Death...

'ZZ Top, the Texas trio of Billy Gibbons on guitar, Dusty Hill on Bass and Frank Beard on drums bring theirblues roots music Ives Concert Park in Danbury Aug. 25 and at MGM Grand at Foxwoods Aug. 26. The band has been together with the same lineup since'

Timeline

CHILDHOOD

TWENTIES

196920 Years Old
Beard was born in Frankston, Texas and attended Irving High School in Irving, Texas. In late 1969 he joined The Moving Sidewalks guitarist and vocalist Gibbons' ZZ Top.
… Read More

Beard also introduced Gibbons to bassist and vocalist Dusty Hill, with whom Beard had played in the bands American Blues, the Warlocks, and the Cellar Dwellers. Read Less

197122 Years Old
After honing their trademark "Texas boogie-blues-rock" style, they released their aptly titled "ZZ Top's First Album" on London Records in January, 1971.
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When ZZ Top started, Beard was known by the nickname "Rube" and was credited as "Rube Beard" on the first album and on Tres Hombres, the band's third album, but is listed under his real name on Rio Grande Mud, their second album. After Tres Hombres, he was credited as "Frank Beard" on all the band's albums.<br /><br /> Despite his name, Beard is the only member of ZZ Top who does not wear a beard. He wears only a mustache, although he did go through a phase in the 1990s where he wore a tidy beard.<br /><br /> Beard resides in Richmond, Texas, where he owns and operates the Top 40 Ranch. He is a scratch golfer, known locally for participation in tournaments and community events. He is of no relation to professional golfer Frank Beard. Read Less